Persuasive Writing
A guide to strengthening your
argument
What is Persuasion? Presenting the
"Argument"
 The goal of argument is to win
acceptance of one's ideas.
 Modern argumentation theory has
roots in Greek and Roman thinking.
 We judge evidence, investigate
carefully, state ideas accurately, and
listen critically
All good Persuasion includes the
following elements:
 Position Statement, Argumentative
Proposition, or Thesis Statement
 Three Argumentative Appeals
(Aristotle's methods of convincing)
 Reason (logos)
 Ethics (ethos)
 Emotion (pathos)
 Form of Organization
Position Statement, Argumentative
Proposition, or Thesis Statement
 State your opinion clearly, in a sentence or
two, within the first paragraph.
 Define the scope of your argument. (The
scope is the situation specific to your
argument.) Then make an assertion that's
open to debate. Example: The school lunch
period should be lengthened to allow ample
time for clubs to meet.
 The assertion includes an element of
uncertainty, to be proven to the
reader/listener.
Three Argumentative Appeals
Reason
 Reason which begins with specifics and moves toward
a generalization is inductive. Example: Several
clubs have reported difficulty completing their
business during lunch period. This proves that lunch
periods should be longer.
 Reason which starts with a general observation and
moves to specifics is deductive. Example: When
people hurry, inefficiency and poor communication are
the results. Under current conditions clubs must
hurry at lunch time meetings. Therefore, lunch period
should be lengthened to allow for better club
meetings.
Three Argumentative Appeals
Reason
 Use two or three different strong
reasons to support your argument.
 Support your reasons with evidence.
 Facts - can be proven.
 Expert opinions or quotations
 Definitions - statement of meaning of
word or phrase
 Statistics - offer scientific support
Three Argumentative Appeals
Reason
 Examples - powerful illustrations
 Anecdote - incident, often based on writer's
personal experiences
 Emotional appeals - to provide support for
reasons, carefully chosen loaded words,
carrying positive or negative connotations,
sway readers' emotions
 Present opposition - and give reasons and
evidence to prove the opposition wrong
 Conclude with call to action - urge the
reader to do something
Three Argumentative Appeals
Ethics
 convince your readers that you are
fair, honest, and well informed. They
will then trust your values and
intentions.
 Avoid over-use of negatively charged
loaded words.
Three Argumentative Appeals
Emotion
 Use description or narrate an
example, often from your own
experience.
 Your point of view is demonstrated in
an emotional appeal, and is important
to the reader.
 Careful word choice presents your
position accurately.
Form of Organization
 Introduction (Exordium) - establish your
argument, and clarify the importance of the
issue.
 Statement of the Case (Narratio) - tell
story behind the argument, offering
background information
 Proposition Statement (Propositio) carefully state central proposition, as a
thesis statement would be given
 Refutation (Refutatio) - refute opposition
arguments, exposing faulty reasoning
Form of Organization
 Confirmation (Confirmatio) - develop your case,
using examples, facts, statistics (logos)
 Digression (Digressio) - appealing anecdote or
description, offering ethos or pathos
 Conclusion (Peroration) - finish with strong
conviction; review main points, or suggest call to
action
 The traditional order - introduction, statement of
case, refutation, confirmation, conclusion, may be
altered to suit your needs
Loose Arguments
 Where someone claims that some items which have
only a few minor similarities are practically the same
in almost everything else.
 Clyde: “I think it is all right for governments in
developing countries to execute citizens who don’t
agree with the government. If you want to make an
omelet, then you have to break a few eggs.”
 A cloud is 75% water. A watermelon is 75% water.
Since a plane can fly through a cloud, therefore a
plane can fly through a watermelon.
Circular Reasoning
 This error occurs when a person
restates a generalization as a reason
for accepting the same proposition.
 "Exercise is healthy because your
body needs exercise.“
 "The play was popular because the
audience liked it"
Slippery Slope
 Assumes taking the first step will lead to additional
steps, which cannot be prevented
 Mom: Those look like bags under your eyes. Are you
getting enough sleep? Jeff: I had a test and stayed up
late studying.
 Mom: You didn't take any drugs, did you?
 Jeff: Just caffeine in my coffee, like I always do.
 Mom: Jeff! You know what happens when people take
drugs! Pretty soon the caffeine won't be strong
enough. Then you will take something stronger,
maybe someone's diet pill. Then, something even
stronger. Eventually, you will be doing cocaine. Then
you will be a crack addict! So, don't drink that coffee.
Either/Or
 Don't reduce a complex issue to only
two possibilities.
 Things are seldom black or white.
 "The department must either raise its
grading standards or bury forever the
ideal of academic excellence." This is
misleading because it ignores the
existence of other less extreme
possibilities.
Ad Hominem
 Attacks the person, rather than
dealing with the real issue in dispute
 What she says about Johannes
Kepler's astronomy of the 1600's
must be just so much garbage. Do
you realize she's only fourteen years
old?
Stacking the Deck
 Intentionally failing to use information
suspected of being relevant and significant
 Buying the Cray Mac 11 computer for our
company was the right thing to do. It
meets our company's needs; it runs the
programs we want it to run; it will be
delivered quickly; and it costs much less
than what we had budgeted.
 the company's Cray Mac 11 was purchased
from his brother-in-law at a 30 percent
higher price than it could have been
purchased elsewhere
Ignoring the Question
 Sometimes in arguing people raise
irrelevant points that distract from
the real issue.
 A) Red Herring eg. A government
defends itself on a charge of corruption
by saying that the budget is balanced.
 B) Attack The Man/Woman eg. "I'm a
liar...so are you." "I'm a crook, well
you're a racist" "Your mother wears
army boots."
Flashy Generalizations
 Absolute situations are rare. Reality is
in degrees.
 Avoid: "Everyone has fond memories
of high school." "Men are better at
sports than women." "All advertising
is lies." Be careful with terms like
"all", "always", "everybody",
"nobody", "none".
Single Cause-Effect
 A speaker assumes that because one
event follows another, the first event
is the cause of the second
Non Sequitur
 a conclusion is supported only by
extremely weak reasons or by
irrelevant reasons
 Eg. If a famous actress uses Crest
toothpaste that has no relation to the
quality of the toothpaste.
 "A man does not beat his
wife;therefore, he is a good
husband."
False Authority
 Beware or incomplete quotations. eg.
The critic said, "Most of the movie
was unbelievably bad, but there were
a few moments of high comedy." The
ad the next day read, "High
Comedy"...The Toronto Dispatch.
 Watch also for misuse of statistics,
skewed samples, and anecdotal
information.
Bandwagon Thinking
 Because something is popular, it is
therefore good or desirable
 [Advertisement] More and more
people are buying sports utility
vehicles. Isn't it time you bought one,
too? [You commit the fallacy if you
buy the vehicle solely because of this
advertisement.]
Appeal to Emotion
 someone's appeal to you to accept their claim is
accepted merely because the appeal arouses your
feelings of anger, fear, grief, love, outrage, pity,
pride, sexuality, sympathy, relief, and so forth.
 [The speaker knows he is talking to an aggrieved
person whose house is worth much more than
$100,000.] You had a great job and didn't deserve to
lose it. I wish I could help somehow. I do have one
idea. Now your family needs financial security even
more. You need cash. I can help you. Here is a check
for $100,000. Just sign this standard sales
agreement, and we can skip the realtors and all the
headaches they would create at this critical time in
your life.
Trivial Objections
 Where someone claims something is true
simply because nobody has yet given them
any evidence to the contrary.
 “There must be mountain lions living in
Illinois, because I haven’t seen any proof
that none exist.”
 No evidence has been found that life does
not exist on other planets. Therefore, we
are not alone in the universe.
Writing Assignment
 You are a student at Willow Canyon
High School who feels one of the
policies/rules (district or school)
should change. Write a letter to the
school board persuading them to
change this policy/rule.